King James Version KJV
Good News Translation GNT
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
1
At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
2
As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
3
They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
4
They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth."
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
5
Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built,
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
6
and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want!
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
7
Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other."
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
8
So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
9
The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.
10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
10
These are the descendants of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son, Arpachshad.
11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
11
After that, he lived another 500 years and had other children.
12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
12
When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he had a son, Shelah;
13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
13
after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
14
When Shelah was 30 years old, he had a son, Eber;
15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
15
after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
16
When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg;
17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
17
after that, he lived another 430 years and had other children.
18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
18
When Peleg was 30 years old, he had a son, Reu;
19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
19
after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children.
20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
20
When Reu was 32 years old, he had a son, Serug;
21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
21
after that, he lived another 207 years and had other children.
22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
22
When Serug was 30 years old, he had a son, Nahor;
23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
23
after that, he lived another 200 years and had other children.
24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
24
When Nahor was 29 years old, he had a son, Terah;
25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
25
after that, he lived another 119 years and had other children.
26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
26
After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
27
These are the descendants of Terah, who was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot,
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
28
and Haran died in his hometown of Ur in Babylonia, while his father was still living.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
29
Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
30
Sarai was not able to have children.
31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
31
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife, and with them he left the city of Ur in Babylonia to go to the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there.
32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
32
Terah died there at the age of 205.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.